Morocco to sign high-speed rail link deal with France: sources
RABAT (AFP) — France and Morocco are to sign a deal on Monday for the construction of a high-speed rail link between the cities of Tangiers and Marrakech, sources and media reports said.
The agreement is to be sealed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy during his visit to the north African kingdom, several sources told AFP on Friday.
French magazine L'Express reported on its website that the trains, to be built by French engineering group Alstom, the maker of the French high-speed TGV train, will run for 500 kilometres (311 miles) between Tangiers in the north and Marrakech in the south.
The line, to be operational between 2012 and 2015, is to pass by the capital Rabat or Casablanca.
"The two countries are to sign a deal on Monday in Marrakech for a high-speed line," a Moroccan source told AFP.
L'Express said the first part of the contract would be worth 1.8 billion euros (2.6 billion dollars), with the project worth a total of 3.0 billion euros.
Alstom declined to comment when contacted by AFP.
The group has only exported its TGV technology out of Europe once before, to South Korea, but it is set to win a contract for a high-speed link between the Argentine capital Buenos Aires and the city of Cordoba.
